School admissions consultation 2019-20

Summary of consultation on admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools 2019-2020

Period of consultation: 2 October 2017 to 26 November 2017

This consultation invites you to give your views about the proposed admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools in Nottinghamshire for 2019-2020.

Background information

Admission authorities

There are different types of schools in Nottinghamshire. The County Council is the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools. This means that we are responsible for the admission arrangements for these schools.

All schools must have admission arrangements that clearly set out how children will be admitted, including information about what happens if there are more applications than places available (oversubscription criteria).

All admission authorities must include the oversubscription criteria in their arrangements. The criteria must be reasonable, clear, objective, procedurally fair, and comply with all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation.

It is for admission authorities to decide which criteria are most suitable for the school according to the local circumstances.

Nottinghamshire community and voluntary controlled schools have defined catchment areas and people living in these areas have high priority for places. This supports parents who wish their children to attend a local publicly funded school.

This does not prevent parents who live outside the catchment area of a school, or even outside Nottinghamshire, from expressing a preference for that school.

Children living in the catchment area with a brother or sister (sibling) attending the school are given priority over children living outside the catchment area. Children living outside the catchment area with a brother or sister attending the school are given priority over all other children living outside the catchment area.

What is included in the consultation?

Nottinghamshire County Council is consulting on admission arrangements 2019-2020 for community and voluntary controlled schools within Nottinghamshire.

These arrangements are relevant for children who will be starting primary school, moving to junior school, moving to secondary school and children transferring school during the school year 2019-2020.

You will find full proposed admission arrangements in the consultation document, including:

Section 1 – the overall procedures and practices that are used to decide how places are allocated (oversubscription criteria).

There are no changes proposed to the oversubscription criteria for 2019-2020 and these remain the same as those for 2018-2019 which were determined on 20 February 2017.

Section 2 - proposed admission number (PAN): the number of places that can be allocated in the year group.

For some community and voluntary controlled schools there is a proposal to change the PAN. This is the number of places that must be offered in each relevant age group. Where changes are proposed, these are highlighted. The PAN determined for 2018-2019 is shown in brackets. This section is ordered by area (Ashfield, Bassetlaw and so on).

Section 3 - qualifying scheme: how we coordinate the arrangements for the admission of pupils to primary and secondary schools in Nottinghamshire.

Coordination means that local authorities exchange information and work together to ensure that, as far as possible, every parent of a child living in a local authority area who has applied for a publicly funded school or academy is sent one, and only one, offer of a school place. There are proposed changes to the dates in the coordinated schemes.

Section 4 - how in-year applications are processed.

Nottinghamshire County Council has an in-year coordinated scheme for all community and voluntary controlled schools. Some own admission authorities have also joined that scheme.

Who do we consult with?

We will be seeking the views of the following groups:

parents of children between the ages of two and eighteen

other people in the area who may have an interest in the proposed admission arrangements

all other admission authorities within the relevant area

all community and voluntary controlled schools in Nottinghamshire

chairs of governing bodies of Nottinghamshire schools

diocesan representatives (relevant religious authorities)

admission authorities in neighbouring local authority areas

all registered early years providers within Nottinghamshire

You can give your views on the consultation between 2 October 2017 and 26 November 2017.